Personality and Social Contexts Commons^™

Social Physique Anxiety And Exercise Motivation, Elise Crause, Sade Alalade, Maeve Carei, Audrey Lyle, Beth Virostek, Patrick Morse Phd

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

The benefits of exercise are clear; they include better overall health, better mood, and less stress (Schultchen et. al., 2019). However, exercise motivations vary (Pate, 1995). Some of these motivations include: health and fitness benefits, social/emotional benefits, weight management, stress management, enjoyment, and appearance (Dacey, 2008). When exercising, many are exposed to an environment of comparison, which has been shown to foster social physique anxiety (Chen, Ku, & Wang, 2012), defined as the “feeling of distress associated with the perceived evaluation of one's physical self” (Frederick & Morrison, 1996). Exercise behavior has been found to change in people with higher …